Thank you for staying with me. All my readers. I was dying to get this out there!
Wright Anything Agency
September 7 9:00 a.m.
Save for the intermingled perplexity shared by the mediums and lawyers, riveted views aligned at the widely ajarr office door. They continued to notably admire the desolate hallway where one of the agency workers had quickly dismissed themselves for an oddly unfathomable reason equally as questionable of the prosecutor's unexpected presence and sudden dispersion. Hastened paces and chases diminished their vibrancy in their distance from the vicinity, bouncing back to their ears. The red attorney approached the open door, poking his head out to the hallway where his co worker had scurried off. Athena was completely out of sight.
Apollo offered his boss a stupefied face from the door frame, "she's gone."
Across the green carpet, numerous files planted on the desk along with tense hands of his boss.
Wright blinked several times to rewire, "I hope she knows she has to work…"
"Does this get added on as an undismissed PTO?" Apollo sarcastically smiled. 'If that is even allowed in this office.'
Wright's brow quirked at him. "Athena walking out of the office adds loads of work onto someone else…" He expressed in contempt.
'And that lucky contestant is me! Put it on Justice…! Tell me something new...' He moped.
"Why would Athena run out like that?" Maya interjected.
"Athena has known Simon ever since she was a child. Knowing Simon, he's not one to exactly come up and ask for help on such short notice and run just like that." Wright informed holding his chin.
"He was the prosecutor you had to defend during that trial where the office blew up." Maya clasped happily, "now I remember."
"I was actually defending Athena in that case. The office didn't blow up, Maya…" Wright reluctantly corrected, "the courthouse did."
"Next time get the facts fixed up before sending out to me!" She wired, "good thing too. I sent Pearly out here. Imagine her cleaning up all that rubble. That would have been too much on her."
'I didn't send out the news of the office blowing up. You did! Anyway… I was thankful. Sending out Pearls and that letter did lighten up my day a bit.'
"Let her off the hook for a bit, Nick." Maya retorted, ripping the attorney from his thoughts and back to reality. "Aren't there times where you knew something was wrong, but had things to do, but you ran out like a madman anyway?"
"Yes." Wright took aback. "But they were emergencies!"
Maya pointed, as if scolding a child, draped cuffs dancing in tune with her arms. "No buts! You still ran out. You never know."
"But-! Gah!" He croaked, 'I got nothing to back myself up…!'
Apollo inspected the hallway once more before shutting the office door. Over hearing Maya, he thought, 'we should have Ms. Fey around here more often. She took Athena off the hook real quick! I wonder if she can get me off the hook with these chores too...'
"I wonder what made prosecutor Blackquill come down here in the first place." Apollo properly approached.
"Knowing him, it might've been something where a lawyer is optional or it just concerned Athena." The blue attorney thought aloud.
"Let's hope it's not anything she can't handle." Maya brought up.
Routine daily duties were bound to be completed. The toilet was cleaned. With Athena currently absent from the office, her chore of rinsing the recently cleaned toilet twice, Apollo reluctantly sighed inwardly. Though, the task mitigated quite a hefty amount due to his extra two hands, fur actually. Maya was willing to help dust around the office while Pearl assisted here and there, alleviating the red attorney from a few tedious cleaning errands around the office, silently thanking the mediums.
'Carpet is vacuumed, files on my side, at least, are organized… I know I am missing something…'
Apollo stepped back to inspect the office currently spick and span. Despite the clutter occupying the connected rooms consisting of the office, managed to give off the impression that it was smaller than it virtually appeared. 'Trucy should really put a different place for these things…' The accused magic props stared back at him, 'it makes the place look a bit messier than it already is… Nah… I think I've grown too fond of them. Misplacing them might make the place emptier and less colorful.'
The shimmering surfaces well enough for him to gain a descriptive reflection of himself. In the back of his mind, there was one thing that bothered him. Impacting like a freight train, it finally hit him. One of the most important members of the Wright Anything Agency and with the most seniority. Curling around the couch, Maya lazily laid upon after sharing some of the work on her part. On the opposite couch, his red third piece he rarely wore currently discarded on the headrest. His travel led him to the corner near the closet where the tall slender palm lily had proclaimed its home base. There, the mascot of the Wright Anything Agency had been awaiting for its weekly water. Throughout trial and error, skill accumulated on his side when it came to caring for this potted plant. Charley did not require too much sunlight, nor did he require an exaggerated bucket of water. Abundance of water would cause it to swell. Even if the possibility of someone managing to forget to water Charley for a week or so, this plant could take a punch. Drought had nothing on this guy. Their mascot only required a glass of water to its soil.
Excusing himself to the cupboards, Apollo grabbed a single transparent glass. He allowed the cool liquid to fill the cup, holding it under the mouth of the faucet. The small trip had him greeting the plant once more. He bent his knees, allowing the lip of the cup to merely tap the ceramic white rounded bowlike pot where its roots had imbedded for years. The soil darkened, soaking the hydration. The water did not overflow to the top, nor did it leave any dry areas on the surface. It was perfect.
"Don't you think he needs a little more?" The voice startled Apollo heavily, causing him to knock his back against the closet door. Maya's hands firmly grasping the headrest of the couch, peering over him. She apologized, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright. I'm fine, Ms. Fey." Apollo quickly recovered, rising to his feet and holding the glass. "I think it's just right for Charley."
"I remember when I watered Charley, I gave him much more than that." She pumped in recollection, "we had to make him big and strong!"
"Wouldn't that mean you were overwatering him?!" Apollo gobsmacked.
"No! Of course not." She pointed triumphantly as if she had just won a burger eating competition, "look how big he has gotten!"
'I can't really judge too much… I mean, I've only taken care of Charley for a few years and he's been relatively the same size… Maya has taken care of him for three, I think.' He retreated, 'If only Charley could talk, then he'd criticize both of us and tell us how to take care of him properly.'
"You really think I should water him a little more?" He stated, hoping the medium would somehow change her mind.
The Master medium leaned forward, closer to the plant. Her long black mane of hair pouring over like rivulets off the couch. "Do you want more water, Charley?"
Apollo could feel his shoulders sag over as she put her hand to her ear, as if the tiniest of voices could somehow magically transfer the thoughts of the plant directly to her ear canal. 'I don't know too much on spirit channeling, but I know it is limited on talking to plants…'
"Mhm… Okay…" She spoke, nodding her head in tune. She kicked her feet, smug stuck on her to face him, "he said yes. Go get our mascot another glass."
Dubiously though not lacking intensity, he waltzed over to the sink. The task repeated, filling the cup another serving of water straight from the tap. Returning to the corner, found Maya's face morph from giddy to severe concentration. Upon reaching her back, Apollo held the glass fastened in his digits before leaning over. "What's wrong?"
"It's Charley." She pointed out a tad worried, "he's hurt."
"Where?" He reeled in closer, searching for any spot of damage or tarnish on the leaves or stem of the plant.
"Right here." She finally pointed out, her meticulous fingers uncovering the obscuring leaves.
Closer inspection revealed a single forming stem on the verge of new life, branching from one the main supports of the palm lily. Nearly invisible, camouflaged upon the numerous leaves overshadowing like a willow. The thin green stalk with a single forming leaf had limped over, dangling by a single green sliver of the branch.
"Aw man…" Apollo notioned.
"We gotta save this little guy!" She rose up quickly, nearly knocking the water from Apollo's grasp.
"But how?" He skeptically asked as he saw Maya make her way passed him.
"Like any other limb," her back talked to him as she made it to Wright's desk. "We need some support for it to heal."
She leaned over to his boss's desk, where he still continued to sort files of his last case. Stagnant attention warped towards the medium, currently rustling supplies in his desk.
"Maya…" Phoenix began, "what are you looking for?"
"Tape or something useful." She trailed off, her voice near muffled from the rummage of papers and supplies colliding against the narrow desk drawer. "To put something together."
"I have a stapler," he suggested nonchalantly, papers still fastened in his hands as she reached over him.
"Are you crazy?!" Maya removed herself from the desk area. "I'm trying to fix Charley, not hurt him more!"
"What's wrong with Charley?" Clarity finally flashed his face, stammering.
"Haven't you been listening?" She started offended, "one of his leaves are drooping. We need to help him."
"Did you overwater him again? You know you always do that…" He deadpanned amusingly.
'So Ms. Fey does overwater him… One point for me.'
"I don't overwater Charley!" Her cheeks nearly puffing, "I gave him just what he needed, and a little extra."
'That's overwatering…' Phoenix slumped partially.
"Now help me find some tape." She broke determined, "we don't have much time."
Practically being trampled over, the medium scurried over to the other side of Phoenix. "Gosh, Nick. You really need to organize your place here."
"I have lots to do!" He frantically attempted to excuse himself.
"This is the drawer," she passed by several more papers and supplies of pens and pencils, digging deeper. "This has been here for a while. Don't tell me that."
Apollo's lips curled, attempting not to release the bubbling laugh withheld in his throat. A hand pierced the air daftly, presenting a small donut wheel wrapped in transparency. The sound barrier broke following the air assault. "Found it!"
"What's the tape for?" The lawyer shuffled back comfortably under the desk, prior to his untimely disturbance.
"You need to catch up, Nick…" She commented, her fingernails desperately scoring the surface of the semi transparent tape, searching for the beginning. "One of Charley's leaves is falling out of place. So we need to attach it quick so it won't die."
"It's called getting older." He brushed off, placing the papers in hand back on his working bench. "Old leaves fall off and new ones grow."
"You would know that." The tape end finally scratched under her nail, gaining a good grip for her to peel.
'Ouch!' Apollo could feel his boss's self confidence shrivel like a dying fire, smothered behind that blue suit.
"Plants grow, people grow." She shuffled through the office, back to where Charley stood tall. "People heal, plants heal. You just need to give them a chance."
Folding her legs together where her bottom could sit on her feet, she stretched the sticky tape, a few inches. Not too much or too little. Just enough. Apollo watched idly in surprise that she did not over do it with the tape like she would have done with the watering. The leaf had yet to decay onto a yellow, ample enough time before it had a chance to rot and wither off like a dead limb. Lifting from the petiole by a single finger, she slathered the tape underneath the small twig. With the partially dry bud that connected to the main vein, she tucked the near clear tape underneath. It was not the best handiwork, but it did the job.
"There." She boasted, "hopefully it'll grow back and stay on its own so it won't need the tape anymore."
Though highly skeptical on the patch up job actually working, Apollo praised it. Maya gingerly pressed the scotch tape right back onto the jumble mess of papers. "Thank you."
Wright grabbed the sealing wheel before placing it back into the drawer without even looking. Studiously, the lawyer continued to fill out forms and files from his previous case. They would have been completed much earlier than scheduled; however, due to the nature of his luck and unplanned distractions hindered his progress. Unforseen circumstances of either surprise visits to parties, guests and an unwanted invitation to the hospital, completing his client's case files was the pinnacle to alleviating his duties. On the other hand, it was difficult. Extremely.
Probably one of the shortest cases he had ever gripped under his wing. No murder victim. Yet the insurmountable befuddlement incapacitated his concentration. As if his very own mind refused to recollect to the electrical impulses to his whim or perhaps the memories did not belong to him at all. He did not attain a detective's testimony either to his circumstance or a few strands of hair would've caught in his stressful grip on added paperwork. Reviewing her testimony and reviewing the rather dwarfed court record storage, alongside the insufficient scratches of discarded figments, he acquiesced in the meager notes he comforted himself upon. Like a tedious play, line after line, he mustered enough plenteous fuzzy details to constitute from the prosecution's exiguous excuses of pinning accusations of guilt and what the invisible stenographer produced.
"Holy Toledo!"
His lungs shuddered on the disturbance. Maya leaning forward in mesmerization over him. "You finally got rid of that brick!"
"What brick?" Wright broke his glance from his papers. 'I have office supplies. Not construction supplies.'
"Your phone!" Eager hands snatching the flat luxurious phone from his desk. Amusement scattered all across her visage along with quips of proudness pacing on him every scant second. Her soft hands easily scouring through the depths of the technology in her hands, in searching of what this gadget could perform.
In honesty, Wright regretted discreetly on the mobile device. It was substantially more sophisticated than he had desired. Sure it can text in more convenience and utilize the internet, something his phone couldn't even fathom on its hardware, but the difficulty to understand the use of the handheld device was brain scattering. Trucy herself had to teach him three or four times to just reach his contact list to enable and receive calls, let alone the task of browsing the web.
"Actually, I still have it." He appealed. "It's in my room."
'I should switch back to it…'
"Aw… that's cute." She pointed to the screen. Majority of Trucy's face occupied the background along with Wright. Her hand outstretched all the way to the corner, holding the phone in an angle.
"Trucy took it." He answered proudly in a smile. Non violent taps bounced off the phone as her interlaced fingers exchanged the usage of thumbs to index fingers and back to thumbs. "This one is touch screen and has apps. It must be so hard for you. Welcome to the twenty first century, years later."
Her congratulatory appraisal caused his brows to scrunch forward.
"Look at your phone!" He mocked. "Little Ms. Flip Phone!"
"Hey! It is of the latest generation! Recent phones that came out were also flip phones, just so you know. Mine broke remember?! This is just a replacement until I get one like this!" She scanned the eye candy in her grip. "Besides, yours was grandpa age."
"My phone was not that old. It was last generation like yours..." He reminded. "Not all new generations have touch screens."
'Some like it simple!'
"I bet you haven't used half of the stuff in here." She tapped away with increasing dexterity. "And… download… download… Zvarri!"
She untucked the pink phone from her obi, flipping the side over. Equipped with both in tow, she paused before glancing at Phoenix. "You have the same number, right?"
"Yes."
"Okay, good. I don't have to change anything." She dialed, satisfied when the rumble purred in her ear. Displaying his phone grandly to her, she smiled when it began to ring.
'You can't be serious...' Apollo commented when the tune interrupted the entire room.
"..." The familiar melody clouded Wright's thoughts faintly. He scoffed, mildly unsurprised by Maya, but grateful. Though he did not ever wish to admit it.
"The Steel Samurai!" The device now placed delicately in Wright's hand. "It's not your official phone unless you have this on it!"
'So it was Ms. Fey who picked the ringtone for Mr. Wright's last phone… Looks like he's stuck with it again, unless he figures out how to change it. Don't see that happening soon...'
He inwardly swallowed before scrunching the phone in his pocket. It wasn't luxurious, fearing if he said something, his glass house would shatter, though it was definitely more high end in comparison to his boss's old phone. The upside to it all was the fact that his ringtone was much more catchy than Wright's new tone. The Guitar's Serenade along with a Bum Rap Rhiny reinforced to the strap. He figured now suited with his boss's unsubtle ringtone, he might as well take the strap of the Steel Samurai from Ms. Fey's phone to attach onto his own.
Shaking his head, feet tip toed as quietly as he could on mission to discard the vacancy in the glass he held. Maya began twisting back towards his direction. Quick frantic thinking, he darted left and right before landing at the glass, then the medium. Her eyes still melded onto her own cellular. The seam met his lip, allowing the aqueous fluid to disappear from sight in a few seconds.
"Good job with the water, Apollo." She winked, "Charley is going to need it."
"Uh...you're welcome…" His sigh drowned in the back of his throat, 'Ugh… tap water!
The red attorney lathered the transparent glass, reminiscing with a slouch that if his boss caught him attempting to touch any glass with his lips, he would offer an indirect scold about using the cupware and his little self diagnosis that his coworker summed from the Internet. Almighty, he would spread his germs across the office for everyone to contract his contagious disease! Skeptical of course to her antics, the lawyer summed his earlier physical tantrum to a horrible bug.
On the upside, a smirk was born on his face, gladly praising himself that he regained his Chords of Steel title. The same title that he passionately missed and desired, grandly savoring the light brought back onto his willing shoulders. Fueled and embroiled innumerably by partaking in her impulsively thought out facade on defeat into a competition of yoga. A pivotal fire of a burning sun on becoming victorious in her own game, not only surprising her but himself. The underside was skipping out on her chance of doing the chores, which he had grown keen to. Athena, herself, would challenge him to see who could clean the office most efficiently. No immediate complaint fell to mind. The help, appreciated. He continued to lather over snowbound white suds onto the glass.
She was pretty quick to see prosecutor Blackquill…
The thought jumbled menacingly in his head. Troubling like static on white noise, not prominent but summed up to the same level of annoyance as a persistent bothersome fly buzzing by the shell of an ear. The victory, quickly dying faster than the life span of said fly, drained as the water and porous bubbly aqueous liquid currently swirling into the drain. The tedious task moved onto drying down the glass. His white hairs across his neck stood on end when he noticed the texture. White craters tattooed the surface. Strewed about as the webbing of a spider, decorated the cylinder of scattered lightning just before it hit the edged rim.
"Ack!"
"Apollo?" Two voices intermingled.
He darted his head out from the corner, offering a gritted guilty smile, "I'm fine!"
Retreating back, the play may have been bought. Footsteps did not hither to his direction. Stupefied, the faucet twisted off at the knob before he examined the glass thoroughly.
'It was fine just a moment ago!'
How the glass itself did not break into thousands of icicles was beyond a mystery. The same nonplussed notion slithered upon how his fingers did not scathe across in scratches or implanted themselves with transparent splinters. The surface remained smooth save for some areas, but cracked uneven like electricity. Impulsively tossing the evidence away into the trash bin, where it had most likely finished disintegrating silently. He groaned a sigh of relief. There was going to be one less in the cupboard. Hopefully, everyone would be too oblivious to discover it.
'There must've been some chip I didn't realize when I poured it.'
The only jumbled mess now leftover from the office appeared to be his boss and Ms. Fey's technological debate and Charley's patched up stem.
'I wonder how that broke in the first place… plants just don't walk around.'
At least the situation wasn't as horrid as it was a few days before. Considering the disarray and monstrous tempest scourging the room to a hellish aftermath of a maelstrom. The focus reorienting on his boss, currently finishing paperwork on his recent case. Charley was indeed found helplessly toppled over.
'Maybe that's why Charley's stem broke… If only you did talk. You'd probably tell us what happened…'
The plant silently stood high in the corner, minding his own business. The prickly feeling rising, well aware that his boss's possible attacker was still out there and at large. Resolving quickly, if he had been there, he could've seen who it was who viciously and deviously incapacitated his boss to a lump on the floor. Before he left, Wright had informed Apollo about an appointment, terminating the rest of the errands after a case. He had to meet up with his client. That same night, he found Wright, barely breathing, muttering only shuddery pants escaping every so often. It was horrifying. With the Chief Prosecutor willing to take his case, personally, he possibly couldn't stare out the window without constant fear of being watched. Same can go for Wright's recent client - Ms. Regina Fate Spectre…
She showed no discomfort or displeasure of having a possible confrontation with the attacker of her attacker. Either feeling indifference or perhaps she was well capable of hiding it. Wright's appointment, was specifically for her. To discuss procedures after a trial, but she wasn't there or unknown of the time. Yet, Trucy and he stood his ground, willing to sleep on the couch in case Athena had another panic attack on request for Mr. Wright.
Tickling up and down his spine, played back and forth like a broken record player. He stood for Athena…
The sensation was not pleasant in the slightest. As the afterburn of a fever, he shucked the sensation from his shoulders. Attempting to relax this hostile vibe, the couch invited him tenderly on cushion. The third piece added extra comfort to his forearm, though his legs jittered restlessly. Mumbles on his side from his boss and Maya were the only thing audible in the office. It was extremely off putting, but not uncomfortable. With Trucy at school and Athena currently out, there place was rather silent. The productivity instinctively kicked off.
"Apollo…"
Gyrating his neck, the small medium of the office called out. "Hmm… Hi, Pearl." He offered her an appreciative grin. "Thanks for the help earlier."
"You're welcome." She bowed her head respectfully. Her little thumb reached to her lip in curiosity, "Where did Athena go?"
Concern pasted onto her face more than the scrunch on her brow. The mention of his co worker made him brush off swiftly, "she went to go see Prosecutor Blackquill. Where they might be, I'm not too sure…"
The answer had not yet satisfied her. "How come you didn't stop her?"
'How come?'
"I mean… it's not like I had much of a choice in the matter. She can choose where she feels like going," he spoke introspectively. 'Though deciding for others to pile on the grub work isn't my choice either…'
"Obviously." Her sleeves rose above her forearm in determination. "I mean why didn't you go with her?!"
"Huh…?" The words rolled out his mouth pathetically.
"You should have followed her," She admitted in accusation. "But you let her get away with that prosecutor."
'Get away?'
"Why?" His finger pressed hard between his eyes. "Did she have something of mine?"
"No!" Eyes grew in agitation. "You let someone get away with her. You shouldn't have done that!"
"Done what?! Pearl." His thoughts failed to connect her allegations correctly. His limbs attempting to protect himself. "I don't get it! What are you trying to say?"
The flames died down, but not in strength. "I saw you the other day. At the party." Her hands caught in her face as she rocked. "You danced with Athena. It was written all over your faces, especially yours, Apollo." Her voice danced in bashfully, "That glint in her eye, wasn't it great?"
She snatched him by the corner of her eyes causing his lip quiver in fear. "It's a sign!"
"It was a normal dance!" He claimed his innocence. Begging soundly in his mind that she was not seriously attempting to push this idea of hers. "A sign for what?!"
"You should have listened to that spark." She shook her head in disappointment. "Follow your heart, you know."
"Hold it!"
Hoping his halt could give him ample enough time to help him figure out an objection to this bleak situation or stir some trigger in the medium's steadfast mind that she was suggesting his intentions were more than platonic. It didn't.
"Pearl… I think you have the wrong idea!"
"Now you have to work on gaining her back." She near scolded him. Her warning casted him in a shadow of shame. "You should take advantage of that when she comes back, soon before you lose her entirely!"
"It's uh…" His eyes darted for an escape as his pushed his tie away from his neck. "...starting to get stuffy in here…"
Quickly dismissing himself, the seat able to warm and indent from his bottom within a few moments, he lept over to the window where previously desperate to escape the medium's hunting advice. The shades that were previously closed presented the outside world.
Out there, in front of the office, Gatewater stood taller than the building the office grounded itself. Currently occupied by a mystery client, he did have some questions or curiosities for. Weighing the options mentally, there was an opportune chance to advertise the agency and find potential clients. Adventure numbing at his fingertips, he acquiesced.
"Mr. Wright…?" His announcement turned into a question.
Maya over her boss's shoulder in a snicker, both were staring right at him. Maya averted her gaze in a giggle as Mr. Wright kept his stuck on his employee.
"Yes, Apollo." Wright upheld his facade.
"...I'm going to see if anyone might need the Agency's help." He stammered tight fisted.
"Alright. If you see Athena..." His voice partially interrupted by a silent chuckle over his shoulder. "Let us know what she's up to."
Apollo winced, feeling the smaller medium's unfaltering gesture behind him, unsure how to respond. "Alright!"
"Seeya around." Maya cried out with a wave before the red attorney nodded in a small gesture before leaving.
Alleviation could never have felt any less messier. His shoulders slackened oddly, revisiting the silent hallway once more. The silhouette of yellow playing out right in front of him, disappearing as it touched the emittance of the sun lamps on top. Defeated and cramped, he marched out, craving the outdoors. The populace simmered down with occupants than it was earlier in the day.
As he exited the office, his perceived target was not too difficult to locate. Just across the street, by a possible tide of destiny or mere coincidence, he saw her. Ms. Fate, currently conversing with two other men. As his pace quickened, he gained a better vantage point, both tall, sturdy and in professional work attire. Awaiting for the wicked red light to come forth and change from green in order to cross the road, her back facing him. A man in a long white lab coat reaching down towards his knees, arms crossed behind his back, chest pumped triumphantly like a soldier, listening to orders. He appeared to be some sort of doctor. The other man besides him, contrasted entirely. His form more relaxed, wrists folding the creases of the brown blazer carelessly from hands imbedded into chocolate gray tailored trouser pockets. Though this charismatic man displayed a more carefree appearance, his demeanor held a much darker malevolence, unlike the man in white. Despite the contrast, the sentinels listened and observed the woman in the cropped midnight violet gold trimmed blazer attentively. As the light finally allowed him chance to crossing the barrier road, he came closer, but paced along hesitantly, aiming not to startle the conversation too soon. Her fingers directed to each one, both nodding after understanding, one after the other.
Despite the distance, Apollo caved into an overwhelming unease, watched. Not by pedestrians or passersby, surprising him drastically. A glimpse confirmed the reason. The most quickest of glances Apollo had ever seen fell on him by the man in white. The darkened pupil shifting speedily as a passing shadow. Apollo stopped. The man approached Ms. Spectre closer, seemingly to catch her slightly by surprise. Severing the links behind his back with his own, gloved hands cradled her elbows into him, bringing her forth, closer to his bulk. The embrace was extremely intimate by boundaries, preparation for a hug. Broad shoulders brought themselves low enough for his lips to brush back several strands of blonde, revealing the double piercings at the bottom of her lobe. His peppered facial hair contrasted in the sea of near platinum yellow, whispering gently passed them, he exchanged. At that moment, Apollo knew he was caught.
What startled him was not the informant, but the shadowed gaze boring holes into him behind the hat of the confidant in brown. Apollo could practically feel the palpable flickering taunt this stranger rendered onto him. All unprecedented hidden eyes on him. The gesture tacit, ordering him to remain fixated in his spot or his upcommance will be swift and dire. It was not a pleasant nostalgia, but a memory. An unfriendly one. A menacing deja vu swept across the attorney in red. If Ms. Spectre was to stare along with him, he would of felt they would have screamed and shout and let it all out! Yet, without the amorphous amount of unwanted attention, there was a faint unsureness emitted. A silent struggle as if it were difficult to comprehend Apollo clearly in argument. No matter the seconds passing, Apollo couldn't put a finger on it. Though he did not approach, out in the open, he did not grasp onto safety.
The exchange between the pair had severed, a notebook within gloved hands. Ms. Spectre dismissed them. The two trailing off steadily, the man in brown shucking his keys back from the valet parker before burning rubber onto the pavement. Safety crept back into Apollo as well as the leaking confidence to face this woman, who's back still faced him. Crossed arms twisted towards the direction of the Wright Anything Agency, violet eyes scanning the building. Just as he was about to start to close the distance between the woman and himself, she turned on her heel. Halting midway, eyebrows flickered up, greeting the attorney in red. Justice stilled to her direction, but decided to close the gap further. She did not approach him, awaiting for his possible request. Apollo noticed how the long collar of the woman, sheathed and extended down to her chest like giant fangs or mandibles, and in the middle lay a pointed onyx jewel with two ivory ones, though it was noticeable how one was larger than the other and more pointed, like horns close to resembling a six on each side. Her eyes did not have any highlight. They absorbed all light, smothering and killing as it hit her sclera and violet iris, drowning like a vortex of the black hole. The elongated edges of her dress shirt protruded from the black vest steadfast within a cropped violet blazer, like folded wings down to her thighs. He could barely see the boots she wore underneath the veil of black from her flares, like a ghost hovering in the air, unrestricted to the time of day.
Bear no ill will… Protect the nymph. Otherwise, be shattered…
"A speedy recovery, hmm?" She began as he entered her domain. "You've been discharged so soon..."
"The Wright Anything Agency is having another slow day." He trailed off with his arms folded shakily, swift to respond. "Looking for clients is another job."
"Advertisement… Looks like you are in charge of that." She lulled. "Greeting people directly is a more appreciative form. I was already one of your clientele. Why approach me?"
"I can't say hello?" Apollo questioned. "What did you think of the service from the Wright Anything Agency?"
"Greetings then. Mr. Wright does have a skittish finesse when it comes to defending…" She deadpanned, "though, the job was completed. It gets a spot on for my go-to if I ever require assistance again."
"Thanks." Apollo gritted in a smile. He nudged the question. "So… who were those men that were here earlier?"
Her head beckoned to the side with overbearing pride, "Like I mentioned earlier, one of them was the doctor I brought you to. The other is involved with the law."
"He is?" Apollo caught quickly, "what is he?"
Her finger rhythmically washed the air in a silent objection. Apollo befuddled, unsure why she had peered over her shoulder.
"Do make your request hasty, would you kindly?" She informed, "As you can imagine, I have a hefty schedule."
"That's funny." Apollo commented smugly. "I remember you having time to yourself, to study others."
Her brow quirked up bemused, "I do, however, I figured with you heading off to work, it would be sooner or later in the afternoon. Suppose you would have come then. That is where your appointment lies. Your firm is not the only place I pay attention to. I have other clients. Time must be invested well with -igating or in -ments."
She pondered aloud, "I may have a few peers that require a lawyer. Most search for designated attorneys to their arm. I, sadly, do not. I wonder what it's like when one is by..."
'You have a need for a handy dandy lawyer?'
"I am familiar with a few associates of the law. My numbers have decreased over the years, however. It's so hard to trust anymore." She spoke strictly disconnected.
"There are some people in the law with not so respectful ways of manipulating the court." He intervened. "That's why we lawyers always have to be on the lookout."
"You don't say… What if the manipulators are within your own circle?" She challenged, "what then?"
"You won't ever have to worry about the Wright Anything Agency on that one." He reassured in utmost confidence, "you can count on that."
"Now is not the time to argue on that…" Her expression unveiled a supercilious skeptical smirk, overlooking around her shoulder once more, allowing Apollo to get an eyeful of her helix hoop around her left ear where the golden hair had hidden. "I do require someone at my side. It is an open seat right now…"
'The 'yet another' footmen position is still open for applicants…?'
"Do you really visualize you're that special?" Her condescendence emulating bear insult.
"I have a good opinion of myself…" He stumped wearily.
"Good." She replied. "Because if you didn't, I would be concerned."
'You are riding me on an emotional roller coaster here… '
"I think there is plenty of time to talk about the Wright Anything Agency…" He rebutted firmly. "What makes you say that?"
"Curious… Curious… Aren't you?" She reminded mildly vexed. "Not now… Because it is too early in the day."
She stood motionless, violets examining. Apollo watched in a muddle as she mumbled to herself, "...should I trust him…?"
'Uhh… right here? At least try to hide it...'
"I am needed elsewhere," she resolved. "It was nice to see you, Mr. Justice."
The veil of her legs were prepared to take a turn.
'You're not getting away that easy!'
"Hold it!"
"…!" Violets ceased in imbroglio, yet maintained a posture. They narrowed through wavering patience. Humoring him a few more seconds, though she didn't seem to react positively to the objection. "Apollo… what is it?"
"You don't trust..." He stated more than inquired.
"That is not up to me." She let off sturdy but cordial. "When you approach your clients, what do you offer them as an encouragement to trust you?"
The words practically rehearsed, from Mr. Wright's words to his mouth, "Believe in your client. Chase every end and believe in yourself."
"Believe in your client…" The words sunk, she offered a small side glance. "Good. That is the objective." She stepped closer. "When choosing a client on my part, my desire is to trust them to know that you will not use me, not use my time nor abuse my resources."
She hovered back one step. "Believing in myself, my judgement, is dependent on my client.
Apollo stepped forward assertively, "you can trust me and the Wright Anything Agency. We've never let any one of our clients down."
"That's the risk…" She stepped back a little more. "Have you ever heard of a Limited Liability? Many clients may come to me, bearing great promise and trust to know they, you, will become a great asset and give forth tenfold of what I have given. With this risk, this possibility of jeopardizing my helping hand comes to my downfall and mine alone. There is not limited with this liability. There's everything to lose and nothing to gain."
"There is that chance…" His view dropping from hers. "I know some people that you try to help and wonder why they do certain things. Betrayal hurts and you don't know whether to trust anymore. And you start to question everything." He stepped forth again. "If you can trust again."
"Correct." She grinned, "but, once I feel this client is worthy… That is where the bond is formed."
Her hand stuck out, her soft palm empty. "Sure it may take some time to invest into, but the relationship between the agreement will allow both receiver and sender to blossom. The beauty of it is what the outcome forms. Great things come from small packages." Both of her arms basked the air, "most large industries you see today started from simple places."
Her eyes touched the sky, specifically the building across the street. "Markets, entrepreneurs, car dealerships, law firms… And they are formidable!"
"Being up there - it's great." He mimicked her direction to the building with a proud grin, the sun not reflecting much light to blind them.
"Being higher up, perhaps not in literal escalation, would be even greater." She whisked. "Perceive it now - the whole firm. That is up to you to decide."
Greeting her once more, the blue and yellowish splotches in his eyes scattered and paved their way back onto her, arms folded confidently.
He crossed his own in a promising smirk, "it's an opportunity hard to pass up."
"Let us be off then."
